Mustafa III (January 28, 1717 – January 21, 1774) was the sultan of the Ottoman empire from 1757 to 1774. He was a son of sultan Ahmed III and was succeeded by his brother Abd-ul-Hamid I in 1774. An energetic and perceptive ruler, Mustafa sought to modernise the army and the internal state machinery to bring his empire in line with the Powers of Western Europe.

Unfortunately the Ottoman state had declined so far that any general attempts at modernisation were but a drop in the ocean, whilst any major plans to change the administrative status quo immediately roused the conservative Janissaries and imams to the point of rebellion. Mustafa did secure the services of foreign generals to initiate a reform of the infantry and artillery. The Sultan also ordered the founding of Academies for Mathematics, Navigation and the Sciences.

Well aware of his own military weakness, Mustafa assiduously avoided war and was powerless to prevent Catherine the Great's annexation of the Crimea. However this action, combined with further Russian aggression in Poland compelled Mustafa to declare war on St. Petersburg shortly before his death.

Preceded by: Osman III

Ottoman Sultan

Succeeded by: Abdul Hamid I

External links

• A more detailed profile of Mustafa III (http://www.naqshbandi.org/ottomans/khalifa/s26_detail.htm)

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